


In the Aftermath

by The_Escaped



Category: RWBY
Genre: And this girl doesn't do anything straight, Angst, Emerald Sustrai Needs A Hug, Emerald is just straight up not having a good time, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I don't think she's emotionally capable of accepting one right now though, Team as Family, v8e9 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:54:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29520471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Escaped/pseuds/The_Escaped
Summary: Yang half-expected Emerald to be gone when she looked around. She didn’t quite understand why she’d come with them in the first place. They’d gotten off the Grimm, staring at the expanse of soldiers and death in front of them, and she’d frozen, guns half up like she didn’t know what to do.“Come with us,” Oscar had said, and she’d blinked at him, stared at the rest of them, waiting for the punchline.But she’d still followed.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 76





	In the Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> MAJOR SPOILERS FOR v8e9 
> 
> This started as an attempt to write a realistic characterization of Emerald with JOYR and ended as self-indulgent hurt/comfort. You've been warned.

“I am never letting you out of my sight again.”

“I’m alright,” Oscar said, enduring another bear hug from Jaune without actually seeming very put upon. Jaune pulled away just enough to give him a skeptical look, tug at the charred remains of his jacket pointedly. Something fragile cracked through his smile. “I’m alright now,” he corrected, and Jaune’s arms tightened again.

“I can-” he started but Ren nudged him hard at the exact second that gold light started flickering over his skin.

“You need let your Aura heal,” he said firmly, “There’s a medkit; we’ll start with that.” Jaune gave a sheepish laugh but acquiesced.

They hadn’t stopped running until they’d hit another outpost. Distantly, Yang could hear the sound of gunfire, Atlas still fighting the Grimm, but she tried to block it out. They were out of Aura, all of them. They wouldn’t be any good to anyone half-dead and defenseless. It would be better to heal what they could and come up with a plan.

Oscar was still half-protesting Jaune and Ren’s ministrations, the light from the furnace gilding them all in gold and scarlet, but he was leaning into the touches like he’d been starving for them. He was ok. He was alive. They’d gotten him back. Yang had given up believing in miracles like this when she was seven and she could barely believe it was happening now.

Yang could have stayed there watching them forever, but.

But.

It wasn’t a noise that made her look back to the other edge of the outpost. It was the lack of one, a noiseless, black hole of a sensation creeping up the back of her neck.

Yang half-expected Emerald to be gone when she turned around. She didn’t quite understand why she’d come with them in the first place. They’d gotten off the Grimm, staring at the expanse of soldiers and death in front of them, and she’d frozen, guns half up, clearly not knowing what to do.

“Come with us,” Oscar had said, and she’d blinked at him, stared at the rest of them, waiting for the punchline.

But she’d still followed.

While the Ren had started the furnace, Yang had rummaged through the supplies and Jaune started taking stock of Oscar, she’d sat down with her back to the wall, as far from them as she could get, and pulled her knees up to her chin. She hadn’t moved an inch since. Yang could just make out her eyes from above her crossed arms, glittering like blood in the light. She was watching the boys by the fire.

Without uncrossing her arms, she lifted one shoulder to rub under her eye.

She had the same look as she had in that freakish whale, when Yang had asked why they should trust her. Her eyes had gone tight and pained then too. Hollow.

They snapped to Yang as she approached. Emerald’s grip on her gun tightened but she didn’t move. She was afraid. Now that Ren had pointed it out she could see it. It wasn’t like Yang didn’t understand disguising fear as something else.

Yang offered her the packet in her hand. “The outposts here have some MRE’s,” she said in explanation, “They’re gross, but it’s food.”

Emerald stared at her, unblinking. She didn’t uncoil from her position.

This was weird. She wasn't well-suited to it. Ruby was the one who was good at this, at being kind and genuine and forgiving. Yang was the one who charged headfirst into danger and was still humming with adrenaline, even though the fight was over, and was having more difficulty than she'd like to admit ignoring the voice in her head screaming that there was an enemy right in front of her.

Emerald didn't uncurl and she didn't reach for the food.

“Where’s your partner?” Yang asked, for lack of anything else to say.

Something cracked in Emerald’s expression. “Where’s _yours_?” And Yang didn’t _know_. She didn’t know where Blake was or if they’d been hurt, if they were fighting any of the legion of monsters, and if they were hurt- if they _needed her_ , she couldn't be there for them. Yang felt her Aura pulse instinctively with emotion; the gun in Emerald’s hand twitched hard but she jerked back as far as the wall would let her.

Ren had said she was afraid and Yang had had a hard time seeing it past the snarling but when Salem had ripped through the walls and her attention shifted from Oscar to Emerald, when Emerald had tried to cut and run- and now she was staring at Yang with the remnants of the same wild fear.

“Look, I haven’t seen her and I didn’t- I didn’t _touch_ the kid,” Emerald was saying shrilly, white showing all around her eyes, “I didn’t have any part of that so just-” Her hands were shaking. “Just leave me _alone_ -”

Yang sighed hard and forced the worry down. They’d been apart before. Blake had Ruby, Weiss, Nora, and Penny to have her back. They would find each other again. “I’m not trying to start a fight,” she told Emerald, the words clipped. She shook the ration harder. “Just take it.”

Emerald looked from her to the bag to the others, who’d gone quiet and were watching. She was still for a long time. Then, slowly, she put one gun down and reached for it.

Ren caught Yang’s eye as she looked around. He nodded slightly. His Aura had healed enough that he could see Emerald’s emotions, and he wouldn’t look this calm if she was thinking of trying anything.

Yang sat down a few feet away and opened her own. She could feel Emerald staring at her, but as she kept eating Emerald raised the ration bar to her mouth and tore the packet open with her teeth. She didn't let go of the other gun. In an absolutely transparent attempt to lighten the tension, Oscar started asking the boys questions about what had been happening the last several hours.

Some of the color came back to Emerald’s face as she ate. She stopped shaking at least, which she’d been doing on and off since they reached the outpost. When she finished she glanced shiftily at Yang and then picked up the dropped gun again, telegraphing the movements.

“You weren’t kidding about her, huh?” Emerald’s eyes cut to her again. “Back at Haven. Salem.”

Emerald’s breath caught. She curled in tighter. In her mind’s eye Yang could see Emerald trapped in that creepy corrupted version of a glyph, Salem’s magic bubbling inches from her skin, her hand forcing Emerald’s chin up. She could see the tears spilling down her face. Emerald hadn’t even seemed aware of them.

“Are you hurt?” Emerald’s head jerked up. She stared at Yang. “Those claw- things. They stung like a bitch. And Salem was kind of… throwing you around.” And Emerald hadn’t even been fighting it. Yang had never seen someone shut down so hard. Like she knew it was hopeless, like she was dead already and was waiting for real life to get with the program.

It was playing hell with all the memories reminding her that Emerald was very _, very_ dangerous and they still didn’t know why she’d had a change of heart in the first place.

If she’d known Salem was like _that_ though… maybe Yang didn’t really need an explanation after all.

At least from the look on her face, Emerald was feeling the same dissonance.

“What the hell is wrong with you people?” she whispered hoarsely, “Did you hit your _head_? Don’t you remember-”

“I think I remember pretty fine,” Yang said, a touch heatedly, because it didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened in the last rounds of the Vytal Festival, not once they knew what her Semblance was. Emerald flinched and looked away.

“What do you want?” she asked, “I don’t have the _fucking stupid_ lamp, I don’t have a partner, I don’t have-” her voice broke. She didn’t wipe away the tear that streaked down her face so much as she smacked it off, glaring at the wall. “I don’t have _anything,_ why would you-”

“Why would we what?”

“Why would you _fight_ her? You people are crazy, why would you attack her? You can’t beat her, no one can beat her-”

“She had you.” Emerald cut off mid-word, uncomprehending. And Yang had been feeling more than a faint stirring of unease this whole time, but this was a million times worse. It wasn’t like there hadn’t been other reasons, Salem would have attacked them too, had killed _Mom_ , but she’d had a hold of Emerald already and she _had_ rescued Oscar. “What,” Yang asked defensiveness stirring in her chest, “Did you think we’d just leave you after you got us out?”

“ _YES._ ” She shouted, unmoored, like the only thing tethering her to reality was the idea that they would just see Salem going after her and leave her to die, leave her to whatever horrors Salem been hinting at that had made her start begging like that, “Why _wouldn’t_ you?”

“You saved Oscar.” Emerald, still fully unraveling, swiveled towards the fire.

Jaune was turned to face them. All pretense of not paying attention was gone. He pushed the medkit at Yang, who hauled it into her lap and started rifling through it.

If Emerald curled into herself any more she was going to disappear. “That was Hazel,” she rasped, the words raw. She wouldn’t look at them, “Hazel saved,” and her face twisted. She didn’t speak past that.

“You tricked Salem for me,” Oscar pointed out from where he was leaning into Ren’s arm, “When she was walking past. You stopped me from giving it away. You saved me too.”

Yang hadn’t known that. Emerald didn’t say anything to that at all, only put her chin down on her knees again, like she needed the barrier against his kindness. Like she didn’t know what to do with it. She looked from him to Yang, small in her confusion.

“You hate me,” she pointed out helplessly, like Yang had forgotten.

“Yeah, well. You saved our brother, so. Priorities.” She pulled out the little packets of antibiotic salve and nudged them into Emerald's reach so she wouldn't have to look at the bereft, lost way she was staring at them all. "Give us some credit, jeez."

Emerald's eyes tracked the movement of the packets, dazed with shock. Her hands loosened and tightened against the grips of her guns.

“I’m sorry about your friend,” Yang said awkwardly and Emerald eyes welled up again. She buried her head into her knees. Silently, her shoulders started to shake.

She flinched when Yang put a hand on her shoulder, but a second later she pressed into the touch hard, still sobbing soundlessly, and finally her weapons hit the ground.

**Author's Note:**

> A significant part of this is just me trying to get my emotions out about very specific moments in the episode if you couldn't tell.
> 
> Yo how ABOUT that episode? I did this instead of my grad work (I don't understand why I only find inspiration when I'm buried in schoolwork) but this episode has CONSUMED me. I am so happy I have transcended to another plane of existence. I hope that our favorite heroes can help show my favorite girl what actual care and affection look like. Fingers crossed guys!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> I hope you like it, and feel free to say hi here or on tumblr, I'm @shitlinguistssay.tumblr.com


End file.
